Trafalgar Trip Report

In light airs and a rolling swell on the 21st October, 28 stately sailing vessels, with the flagship flying the famous signal, moved slowly towards the coast of Spain off Cape Trafalgar. Aboard HMS Defence were three members of the LCSC. Alas we have not discovered that the history of the club goes back much further than we thought. This was the concluding part of the UBS Oyster Trafalgar Regatta - an amazing, unforgettable experience, and the Defence was the temporarily re-named Sula of Strath, Bill Johnson's Oyster 55.

Sula had sailed down from Plymouth with a professional skipper and some training crew, a fairly breezy passage but rewarded with the sight of phosphorescent dolphins. Bill, Jennie Pope and Nicholas Beale flew down and in the end there were nine on board. The UBS Oyster regatta festivities began on Tuesday 18th, with racing starting the following day. All the boats were Oysters from 72 ft to 35 ft, with the larger boats in Class I and the smaller in Class II. The largest was Oystercatcher XXV, an Oyster 72 skippered and helmed by the flamboyant owner, founder and chairman of Oyster Marine, Richard Matthews. Oystercatcher would invariably finish first in any race. Sula came 3rd in class on handicap in the first race. However the 2nd race on Weds was postponed to the following day due to permit problems, so we visited Cadiz in the yacht that afternoon. There was a dinner in Bodegas Terry complete with an equestrian display. Nicholas arrived late that evening and was befriended by the owners of an Oyster called Firefly – who sadly do not also possess a Firefly called Oyster. On Thursday, Bill's birthday, we had 3 races, the first was so-so in rather light airs 2-3. But the wind picked up and the crew gelled. Only the skipper had much racing experience, but there were over 100,000 yachting sea-miles on board, and we also benefited from having Bill helming so that the Skipper could concentrate on being Tactician. In the 2nd we were the second across the line (apart from Oystercatcher) by less than a length, and could have squeezed the first finisher off the line if Bill had not been so admirably sporting. In the third and final race we were also 2nd across the line (apart from ....) to a different boat. However because of the handicapping system it was impossible to know where we had come overall.

That evening we had dinner in San Marcos Castle and a talk by a distinguished Nelsonian on the Battle of Trafalgar. Most of us were back on board Sula by 00:45 and Bill and Jennie volunteered to be woken at 05:45 to sail out to the battle site. On Fri we cast off at 0630 to sail from Puerto Sherry to a rendezvous at the battle site (which is off Cape Trafalgar south of Cadiz) where 28 Oysters and a powerboat Committee Boat met up with the Lord Nelson and Gypsy Moth IV to commemorate the battle. The event was carefully choreographed and at the exact time of various events the VHF would announce what was happening 200 years ago. There were a couple of other boats including one owned by someone whose ancestor had fought at Trafalgar. The weather was much as it was 200yrs ago, light winds and a swell, and it was awesome to think of this decisive engagement being played in such slow motion. It was also non-trivial for all the boats to keep station in very close quarters even under power – which gives us additional admiration for the seamanship of the English, and additional sympathy for the difficulties of the Combined Fleet. After the solemnity (including Nelson's Prayer) laying wreathes, and the photos, many of us went for a swim – the water was 20C and delightfully cooling – the sun dried us off on the way back. Then the long motor back to port, change to Black Tie for a prizegiving and dinner at Bodegas Osborne. Sula came 3rd - 0 - 2nd - 3rd in the races, giving 3rd /15 in class overall, the hospitable Firefly was first. The dinner concluded with toasts including The Immortal Memory and singing of sea shanties, pluckily led by a Naval Officer who cheerfully admitted that he couldn't sing and only partly knew Rule Britannia (“Britannia rules the waves” forsooth!)

At about 0100 some returned to the boat – others partied until daybreak and an amazing time was had by all. Many thanks to Oyster Marine and the sponsors for a superbly organised event - well worth catching the next regatta! We are expecting some pretty good pictures (professional photo boat of course...) which will be posted on the Aztec Sailing website.